Monday, November 7, 2016

Pizzeria Vetri

*Sponsored PostPizzeria Vetri comes to DC from Philadelphia's famed Chef and James Beard Award Winner, Marc Vetri, and celebrates the art of authentic pizza making by using a 650 degree wood-fired oven to cook their pizzas in just 3 minutes. Closest Metro is U Street.

Opening earlier this summer, the DCist noted that their "Neapolitan-style pizzas, ordered by the pie or by the meter, have crisp crusts topped by quality ingredients like sharp smoked provolone, creamy stracciatella cheese, and thin slices of pepperoni." We were invited in to sample some menu favorites.

Pinwheels of pizza dough called rotolos that are stuffed with mortadella and ricotta cheese, then topped with a pistachio pesto are a popular item that called to us. Keith really enjoyed this starter and found it quite filling. The stuffed ingredients in this "cinnamon roll" looking item were plentiful, and he thought it would make a great lunch.

We also shared two pizzas. The Quattro Formaggi is a white pie with gorgonzola, mozzarella, scamorza, and fontina cheeses. It was well balanced and the dough was pretty chewy with extra charred blisters on the crust.

We also tried the Melanzana with crushed San Marzano tomatoes, eggplant, stracciatella, and oregano. It had great flavor - I appreciated the thin slices of eggplant and the creamy cheese, however found the crust to be a lot thinner than the white pizza, causing a little extra sogginess.

All in all, the pizzas were decent and they had multiple variations to please any palate. I found the crust to be unevenly cooked, with extra charred bubbles that I would have liked less of. The restaurant itself is quite spacious, though at the far end of the popular strip which is a bit of a walk from the metro station.